Page 125 of The Pillars of the Earth

Aliena frowned. This sounded crazy. All she wanted to do was help with laundry, or cooking, or sewing: she did not see how she could make anybody rich. “What sort of work are you talking about?” she said.

Kate was behind her. She ran her hands down Aliena’s sides, feeling her hips, and stood close so that Aliena could feel Kate’s breasts pressing against her back. “You’ve got a beautiful figure,” Kate said. “And your skin is lovely. You’re high-born, aren’t you?”

“My father was the earl of Shiring.”

“Bartholomew! Well, well. I remember him—not that he was ever a customer of mine. A very virtuous man, your father. Well, I understand why you’re destitute.”

So Kate had customers. “What do you sell?” Aliena asked.

Kate did not answer directly. She came around in front of Aliena again, looking at her face. “Are you a virgin, dear?”

Aliena flushed with shame.

“Don’t be shy,” said Kate. “I see you’re not. Well, no matter. Virgins are worth a lot but they don’t last, of course.” She put her hands on Aliena’s hips, leaned forward, and kissed her forehead. “You’re so voluptuous, although you don’t know it. By the saints, you’re irresistible.” She slid her hand up from Aliena’s hip to her bosom, and gently took one breast in her hand, weighing it and squeezing it slightly, then she leaned forward and kissed Aliena’s lips.

Aliena understood everything in a flash: why the girl had smiled at Richard outside the mint, where Kate got her money, what Aliena would have to do if she worked for Kate, and what kind of woman Kate was. She felt foolish for not having understood earlier. For a moment she let Kate kiss her—it was so different from what William Hamleigh had done that she was not in the least repelled—but this was not it, this was not what she would have to do to earn money. She pulled away from Kate’s embrace. “You want me to become a whore,” she said.

“A lady of pleasure, my dear,” said Kate. “Get up late, wear beautiful clothes every day, make men happy, and become rich. You’d be one of the best. There’s a look about you. ... You could charge anything, anything. Believe me, I know.”

Aliena shuddered. There had always been a whore or two at the castle—it was necessary in a place where there were so many men without their wives—and they had been regarded as the lowest of the low, the humblest of the womenfolk, below even the sweepers. But it was not the low status that made Aliena tremble with disgust. It was the idea of men such as William Hamleigh walking in and fucking her for a penny. The thought brought back the memory of his big body poised over her, as she lay on the floor with her legs apart, shaking with terror and loathing, waiting for him to penetrate her. The scene came back to her with renewed horror and took away all her poise and confidence. She felt that if she stayed in this house a moment longer it would all happen to her again. She was overcome by a panicky urge to get outside. She backed toward the door. She was frightened of offending Kate, frightened that anyone should be angry with her. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “Please forgive me, but I couldn’t do that, really. ...”

“Think about it!” Kate said cheerfully. “Come back if you change your mind. I’ll still be here.”

“Thank you,” Aliena said unsteadily. She found the door at last. She opened it and scuttled out. Still upset, she ran down the stairs into the street and went to the front door of the house. She pushed it open but she was frightened to go in. “Richard!” she called. “Richard, come out!” There was no reply. The interior was dimly lit, and she could see nothing but a few vague female figures inside. “Richard, where are you?” she screamed hysterically.

She realized that passersby were staring at her, and that made her more anxious. Suddenly Richard appeared, with a cup of ale in one hand and a chicken leg in the other. “What’s the matter?” he said through a mouthful of meat. His tone indicated that he was annoyed at having been disturbed.

She grabbed his arm and pulled. “Come out of there,” she said. “It’s a whorehouse!”

Several bystanders laughed loudly at this, and one or two called out jeering remarks.

“They might give you some meat,” Richard said.

“They want me to be a whore!” she blazed.

“All right, all right,” Richard said. He downed his beer, put the cup on the floor inside the door, and stuffed the remains of the chicken leg inside his shirt.

“Come on,” Aliena said impatiently, though once again the need to deal with her younger brother had the effect of calming her. He did not seem angered by the idea that someone wanted his sister to become a whore, but he did look regretful at having to leave a place where there was chicken and beer to be had for the asking.

Most of the bystanders walked on, seeing that the fun was over, but one remained. It was the well-dressed woman they had seen in the jailhouse. She had given the jailer a penny, and he had called her Meg. She was looking at Aliena with an expression of curiosity mingled with compassion. Aliena had developed an aversion to being stared at, and she looked away angrily; then the woman spoke to her. “You’re in trouble, aren’t you?” she said.

A note of kindness in Meg’s voice made Aliena turn back. “Yes,” she said after a pause. “We’re in trouble.”

“I saw you at the jailhouse. My husband is in prison—I visit him every day. Why were you there?”

“Our father is there.”

“But you didn’t go inside.”

“We haven’t any money to pay the jailer.”

Meg looked over Aliena’s shoulder at the whorehouse door. “Is that what you’re doing here—trying to get money?”

“Yes, but I didn’t know what it was until ...”

“You poor thing,” Meg said. “My Annie would have been your age, if she’d lived. ... Why don’t, you come to the jailhouse with me tomorrow morning, and between us we’ll see if we can persuade Odo to act like a Christian and take pity on two destitute children.”

“Oh, that would be wonderful,” Aliena said. She was touched. There was no guarantee of success, but the fact that someone was willing to help brought tears to her eyes.